College of Wooster dominates boards to beat DePauw
WOOSTER — Four College of Wooster men’s basketball starters scored in double figures, and the Fighting Scots finished with a massive rebounding advantage for the second straight game during Saturday’s 73-59 win over DePauw University at Timken Gymnasium.
Wooster (4-1, 2-0 North Coast Athletic Conference), which snapped a rare three-game series skid with the win, was pulling away from DePauw (3-4, 1-2 NCAC), withstood a second-half Tigers’ rally, then was on the verge of blowing the game wide open at the finish. Saturday’s win started with a 12-2 Wooster run.
Senior Najee Hardaway, who was coming off a career-high 23-point outing, continued his offensive dominance with the final four points of the opening stretch. Hardaway’s driving layup just before the 16:00 mark upped the lead to 9-2, and he canned a three-pointer on the next offensive possession. At the onset, sophomore Elijah Meredith opened the afternoon’s scoring with a three-ball, and junior Turner Kurt’s singular determination at the rim led to a 5-0 lead just 50 ticks into the contest.
DePauw, which pulled within 12-8 at the 14:35 mark, was cold all first half, making just 9-of-32 shots for a 28.1 field-goal percentage. Wooster, on the other hand, finished just shy of 50 percent, which led to a 37-22 halftime lead.
Three-pointers by first-year Jamir Billings book-ended a 14-0 Wooster run, during which the Scots’ lead grew to 48-22 at the 15:56 mark of period two. The Scots’ starting point guard scored eight points during the run, while the Scots went 5-of-7 from the floor overall. Kurt’s layup at the 15:12 mark upped the lead back to 26 before James Havrilla connected from range, starting the Tigers’ lengthy 29-11 run that spanned 10:19. Grant Gohmann’s wing trifecta had DePauw within 61-53 with 5:37 remaining, and the Tigers were again within eight at the 3:06 mark, thanks to Camden Brown’s layup off a turnover.
Sophomore Nick Everett sank both ends of a one-and-one with 2:49 to go, upping the lead back to 10 in the process, as the Scots responded with an 9-0 run to put the game out of reach. Hardaway found Billings for an open three on the next possession, then Meredith was on point at the line in a one-on-one situation. Sophomore Eric Mudd’s free throw upped the lead to 73-57 with just over 40 seconds remaining.
Meredith’s 18 points led all scorers. He was 7-of-9 from the floor, and was one of three Scots with at least seven rebounds on the day. Billings stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, 12 of which came on three-balls, and he secured eight rebounds to pair with five assists. Senior Brandon Styers scored 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while Hardaway added 14 points and five assists. Kurt rounded out the Scots with at least seven rebounds, and he had three of the team’s four blocked shots.
Wooster posted season-high marks all-around in the shooting percentage column, finishing at 51.8 percent (29-of-56) from the floor, 40 percent (8-of-20) on three-pointers, and 87.5 percent (7-of-8) at the line. The Scots enjoyed a 41-24 edge in rebounding, and have out-rebounded the opposition by 39 over the last two games.
Gohmann’s 13 points and eight rebounds led the Tigers. The Scots held Elijah Hales, who entered play with a team-leading 17.3 points, to just three, and Wooster pestered him all afternoon, with the guard firing off just seven field goal tries.
DePauw’s 43.3 percent (13-of-30) second-half field-goal percentage upped the game mark to 35.5 percent (22-of-62). Nearly half – 30 – of the Tigers field goals were three-pointers, and DePauw hit just seven of them.
Next, Wooster hosts Allegheny College (4-4, 2-0 NCAC) at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 8.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: College of Wooster dominates boards to beat DePauw
